Napkin dispenser



Feb. 8, 1955 J. A. PENNINGTON 2,701,663

NAPKIN DISPENSER Filed Sept. 8, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

Jae/ 1Q Pennington Ally.

Feb. 8, 1955 Filed Sept. 8, 1952 J. A. PENNINGTON NAPKIN DISPENSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 +5 z: 17 Q q 1 T K a 1 1 r H M 1; L} Q L T/M A P Ar y United States Patent NAPKIN DISPENSER Jack A. Pennington, Lewiston, Idaho Application September 8, 1952, Serial No. 308,420

2 Claims. (Cl. 221-213) The present invention relates to improvements in a napkin dispenser and it is particularly directed to a novel container for napkins together with a simple effective mechanism operable to lift the napkin held upright in the container individually through a top slot in the container. The present wide use of napkins made from paper pulp and other paper pulp sheet materials makes it increasingly necessary to have some means whereby the individual sheets may be lifted and separated from the pack with a minimum diificulty. While the present invention is particularly adapted for the handling of the com;- mon well known paper napkin, its use is not restricted thereto. Other sheets, whether folded or in si g e layers arranged in packs, may be separated individually with my device and the individual units are lifted into position where they can be grasped by the hand.

My invention contemplates the provision of a container adapted to hold the sheets on edge in a vertical position, the container being provided with one side that opens for the insertion of a pack of sheets, the container also having a top slot adjacent one vertical side wall through which the lifted sheets may pass. Within this container a lifting block is vertically slidable and the block carries a piercing and lifting pin point arranged to penetrate the sheet only on its upward motion.- A novel means of supporting the lifting block and causing it to lift the individual sheet pierced by the pinis' provided within the container.

One of the difficulties in'a device. of this character=lies in the fact that as a pack of sheets is depleted, the pick up device must be equally as effective as it is at the time when the pack of sheets is first inserted. When sheets are laid horizontally in the container or taken either from the top or the bottom of the pack, there is a variation either in the distance the pick up device must extend into the container or in the load or weight of the pack. Furthermore in all horizontally arranged packs of sheets, the weight of a sheet upon the lower sheet provides a frictional problem that is difficult to overcome. The device that picks up the sheet must not mar it to any appreciable extent if it is to be successful. I have therefore devised my dispenser so that the sheets to be picked up are held upright on edge and are pressed toward the pick up point at all times regardless of the number of sheets that may remain in the pack.

The nature and advantages of my invention and other and more detailed objects thereof will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred form of the invention, together with minor modifications which serve as equivalents of the mechanism in the preferred form. It is obvious that modifications as to details in the mechanism employed may be made within the scope of the invention as hereinafter set forth in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a napkin container and dispenser embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating the mounting of the napkin lifting device;

2,701,663 Patented Feb. 8, 1955 Figure 7 is a small perspective view showing the exterior of the container;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line, 9-9 of Figure 8.

My invention in its preferred form comprises a container 10 having a front wall 11 which is provided with a narrow vertical slot 12. The container is adapted to stand vertically on its bottom wall 13 with a bundle 14 of napkins standing on edge between the side walls 15 and 16 of the container. The top of the container is closed by a top wall 17, the top wall 17 being cut away toprovide a slot 18 across the top of the container adjacent to the front wall 11. The rear of the container is closed by a hinged cover 19 which is hinged to an upstanding iip 20 on the bottom wall 13 by hinges 21. A spring latch 22 on the top wall 17 is utilized to secure the hinged cover 19 in place. The cover has a knob 23 by which it may be pulled open for loading the dispenser.

The sheet lifting mechanism is mounted on the front wall 11. The front wall is provided with a channel 24 with overhanging guide ribs 25 and 26 to receive a sliding pick up member 27. The pick up member 27 has a handle 28 that extends through the slot 12 so that it may be operated from the exterior of the wall 11. The channel 24 is extended somewhat below the lower end of the slot 12 so that the pick up member 27 may be elongated and made more easy to guide in the slot 24 without binding. A stop 29 is provided on the front wall 11 at the top of the channel 24.

The pick up member 27 has a flat outer side and the lower portion of the pick up member is substantially flat. Near the upper portion of the pick up member a rounded sheet engaging head 30 is formed, this head being limited in width to the space between the guides 25 and 26. The head 30 protrudes past the guides 25 and 26 into the container so that the sheets in the bundle 14 may be pressed substantially into contact with the head. A sharp pointed pin 31 is mounted in the head 30 and projects outwardly and upwardly from the head 30 at an angle of about 3.5 degrees to the vertical. The pin 31 has a fine sharp point and it extends above the point of the greatest projection of the head 30 into the container.

The construction is such that the pick up device 27 is spring lifted so that its normal position is that shown in Figure l, with the pin 31 above the normal level of the pick up sheets 14 resting on each other within the container 10. A long spring member 32 has one end 33 secured in the pick up member 27, the other end 34 of the spring being secured in the front wall 11 adjacent to the bottom wall 13 of the container. The spring 32 is curved to one wide channel 24. As illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, when the handle 28 is used to force the pick up member 27 down, the spring 32 is bent from the full line position shown in Figure 2, to the dotted line position, thus storing up the energy necessary to lift a sheet from the pack 14 when the handle 28 is released. The sheets in the pack 14 are pressed toward the front wall 11 by yielding members such as rectangular springs 35 and 36 that are mounted on the back cover 19. The spring 35 at its upper portion has a central offset section 37 that is directly opposite the path of travel of the pick up member 27 so as to avoid any possibility, when the pack 14 is exhausted, of having the pointer 31 hook into the spring 35.

It is believed to be apparent from the foregoing description that the pin 31 will slide down over the front sheet of the pack 14 as the member 27 is lowered. The pressure exerted by the springs 35 and 36 is light so that there is no difiiculty due to the pin 31 tearing the soft sheets. As soon as the member 27 starts upward, however, the force on the pin 31 is in such a direction as to cause it to stick into the adjacent sheet and exert a lifting force on the sheet. The front sheet is free to move upward except for its own weight and the light pressure of the springs 35 and 36 which tend to hold the entire pack against the front guides 25 and 26 and the spring 32. The pressure upon the front sheet does not vary greatly as the pack 14 is decreased by the removal of the front sheets in this manner.

. 2,7o1,eea

long enough to penetrate the first sheet far enough to lift it. With folded napkins the pin 31 can of course be longer than would be necessary for lifting single thin unfolded sheets of paper. I have found it to be essential to provide a sharp pointed pin for the pin 31 so that the penetration or sticking of the pin into the paper can be accomplished with an extremely light pressure of the paper against the pin. By arranging the pack 14 on edge vertically within the container and applying the steady pressure horizontally on the pack, I find that the sheets can be picked off one by one until the whole pack 14 is removed. The pin 31 should not make an angle of more than 45 degrees to the vertical and preferably it should be 40 degrees or less. Figure of the drawings which shows the pin 31 enlarged, illustrates the optimum angle desired. This angle is between 30 and 40 degrees' Referring now to Figures 8 and 9, these figures show a modified construction wherein the springs 35 and 36 are replaced by a presser plate 38 which is hinged to the top of an arm 39. The arm 39 is pivoted to the cover 19' at 40 and 41 and has a flange 42 formed beyond the pivot point of the arm. This flange makes an angle of about 45 degrees to the arm 39. The spring wire 32 instead of being fastened at the top of the wall 11, is secured to the horizontally running rod 43 that is seated in a recess 44 in the bottom wall 13 of the container. The rod 43 has its rear end bent upwardly to form a cam arm 45 that extends into a slot 46 provided in the flange 42. In normal operation the cover 19 being closed, the cam arm 45 and the flange 42 will tend to cause the plate 38 to press inwardly against a pack of napkins or other sheets within the container The pressure in this case will be merely the pressure due to the tendency to swing the arm 39 inward away from the cover 19'. However, when the spring 32 is bent by downward motion of the pick up device 27, this turns the cam arm 45, causing it to press on the flange 42 in a direction to exert additional pressure toward the pack of napkins at the time the pick up device 27' is positioned to force the pin 31' into the sheet. The construction of the modified form of the invention is otherwise essentially the same as the preferred form illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 inclusive.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A dispensing container for paper napkins etc., said container having an upright front wall, a pick-up member mounted on said front wall for vertical sliding movement and having a smooth rounded head projecting into The pin 31 is made just the container, the container having bottom, rear, and side walls forming, with said front wall, an enclosure to receive a pack of sheets in upright position, the rear wall having means thereon yieldingly pressing the pack toward the front wall, a sharp pointed pin secured in said head and projecting upwardly and away from said head toward the rear wall at an angle of about 30 to degrees to the vertical, the container having a top opening above the head and pin through which a sheet may be lifted by the pin, a handle fixed to the pick-up member and extending through the front wall, the front wall having a vertical slot for the handle, and an elongated bowed spring lying along the front wall inside the container, the lower end of the spring being secured to the container and the upper end of the spring being secured to the pick-up member, the means yieldingly pressing the pack toward the front wall, comprising a plate, an arm supporting the plate, the lower end of the arm being pivoted to the rear wall, and means connecting the arm and said bowed spring operable to urge the arm forward upon downward movement of the pick-up member.

2. In a dispensing container for paper napkins and the like having an upright front wall and having means for yieldingly pressing a pack of sheets in upright position toward the front wall, a pick up member adapted to lift the front sheet of the pack comprising a slide mounted on said front wall for u and down movement, the slide having a handle fixed thereto and extending to the exterior of the container, said slide having a lifting spring secured thereto, the spring being bowed out alongside the front wall and extending down along the front wall and anchored near the bottom of the front wall whereby to move between the front wall and the sheets as the slide moves up and down, said slide having a head projecting into the container from the front wall to bear against the pack of sheets, and a sharp pointed pin secured in the head and projecting upwardly and away from the heail at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees to the front wa References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 489,069 Crook Jan. 3, 1893 683,676 Winegarten Dec. 5, 1899 1,088,949 Warren Mar. 3, 1914 1,516,121 Rupert Nov. 18, 1924 2,540,930 Campbell Feb. 6, 1951 

